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Boa'Tia Islands
The Boa´Tia Islands consist of 4 relatively small, compacted islands located in an ocean similar to the pacific. The islands are often high temperatures of 32°C, and the weather is not always predictable, but follows a trend of being fairly hot and warm, with storms brewing often. One island is roughly the size of two islands, however only small portions of this island are habitable, due to a relatively large volcano that is frequently active, with small, yet somewhat dangerous eruptions which often cause minor quakes in the area. Rarely the earthquakes are strong enough to be felt on the outer islands. The other islands Have a central mountainous area in the centre of the islands, and the generally speaking, the whole island is fairly rocky. Scientifically speaking, the entire group of islands were created via volcanic and seismic activity, yet knowledge like that is not known IRP. Outside of the mountainous areas there are rainforests, and this covers roughly 60% of the landmass (For each individual island) Located around the edges of the rainforests are relatively dense forests which provide the lumber for the natives. which lead down to the golden beaches and the wonderful blue seas (I’m not trying to sell a holiday here, it may sound that way) which contain coral reefs. Also, a large portion of the coastline have relatively steep cliffs, some of these even have caves carved into them, mainly underwater ones created by coastal erosion. Some of these cliffs are the ends of rivers, which create mini waterfalls that lead directly into the ocean. The natives have established their tribal villages around the edges of the islands for various reasons, which will be explained in the cultural section down below. Fauna There are various creatures living in each separate ecosystem. Deep in the jungles and rainforests there is an abundance of birds such as parrots and Toucans. The floor of the jungles however are very hostile as many poisonous snakes and violent lizards lurk down here. Using the grounds of the rainforests is best avoided, and definitely not advised by the natives. The rainforests also consist mainly of poisonous flowers and plants, however, some rare plants have medical use for the Natives, again this will be explained later in the cultural section. The outer forests are mainly composed of trees similar to the Acacia Koa, and this tree is used for lumber for the natives, and they use this wood to craft various items. The wildlife within these forests consist of animals such as bats and mongooses. The Beaches are inhabited by the Natives themselves, and so domesticated animals such as dogs are seen in this area. Other than that, there is little wildlife on the beach itself, maybe the occasional crab can be seen crawling along the beach. The corals are home to a wide variety of fish, many of which are food sources for the natives. Further out to sea there are dolphins and whales, and of course, more fish. Flora Due to the islands Seclusion from any other islands or nations etc, the flowers and plants here have variations to normal plants, making some more useful in medical applications, and making some more deadly. The Natives were not particularly intelligent when it came to medicinal uses of plants, and often only knew concrete knowledge on a few plants. One example of a deadly plant was the nahika plant. This extremely sweet smelling plant resulted in heavy poisoning of the consumer, resulting in intense burning pains in the throat and mouth, and is dangerous enough to force the body into a coma, or even cause death. On the brighter side, rarely plants in the area where known to have positive effects on health, but many had side effects of kinds. For example the Pua Kala plant. This plant was Was known to ease pains of any sorts, from aches to battle wounds, and was commonly used by warriors returning from skirmishes. The method of consumption varied depending on the user, as they each believed the plant was better consumed in varying ways, but common methods of intake included eating whole or turning the plant into pulp and drinking the substance. Inhabitants There are four separate islands, but the cultures have remained practically identical, despite the large split which occurred over 150 years ago. Although there was a large split between the prominent members of the original community, named the Tia’Taw, the separated groups have since made a form of peace, they work together when disasters strike and aid each other, however they refuse to form back into one large group due to beliefs and practices. Communication between each island community is achieved through couriers; extremely agile natives who can manoeuvre through the trees efficiently, and at the coasts they have invented a very effective design to aid their travels, and the discovery was completely accidental. As the islands made peace they knew they needed an efficient way to reach each other. The distance was not great, but they could not build bridges and consequently had to figure another way to travel. Many natives had discovered the secrets to creating a perfectly balanced canoe, originally designed to aid travel around the lakes and rivers. However they were soon discovered to endure the longer, slightly harsher journeys between each island, and so they were used. Unfortunately these crafts were rather slow when travelling through the sea, mainly due to the larger waves created by the corals and long stretches of open ocean for the wind to pick up along. One courier was travelling in particularly foul weather, the waves were more aggressive and battered the man’s small craft. The sides of this canoe became weak and started dragging down into the sea, and so in a fight for survival, the courier forcibly removed the sides and let them float away. The top of the canoe swiftly followed, and soon all that remained was a fairly stable bottom. The courier began to paddle forwards, and crawled towards the front of the plank of wood. The added weight pushed the plank slightly into the water, and this propelled the courier forwards. Using the momentum of the wave and the courier’s added paddles, the plank began to glide through the water towards the destination. Throughout the years expert craftsmen have adapted this ‘plank’ to be of greater efficiency when gliding along the ocean, and so, the primitive surfboard was made. Well, for RoK, anyway. Despite the scarceness of minerals such as bronze and iron, they developed what they had fairly well. Stones were sharpened to be deadly when necessary, or tough when required, for uses in tools like harpoons. What Iron they had went to the creation of decorative tomahawks, which could be used as a weapon when needed. Plants that were found upon the island such as hemp plants were used for medical purposes, though later the Natives began to use the hemp plant for purposes beyond medicines, such as ceremonial use, and when the plant became grown more widespread, the uses expanded once more, to recreational usage and was sometimes used within crafting. The Structure of the Natives was very rigid, and children would know what they would be doing as adults from a young age. There were few professions in the villages, and these were not picked for you, or by you, the child would follow in their respective gender’s footsteps. For example, if a boy was born to a warrior father and a farmer mother, he would become a third tier profession, and if he had a sister, she would become a tier one profession, most likely a farmer, and tiers are explained a little later. The professions are fairly self explanatory, and all aided the village in some way, as there was no personal gain within these communities, for there was no real point. The first, and possibly the most important tier was the resource gatherers. This included the hunters, fishermen, and farmers. These where the bulk of the community and provided all the important resources that the secondary professions would need. The secondary tier consists of the Carpenters, who are the creators of furnishings, canoes and surfboards. There is also the blacksmiths, who will work with the scarce metals that they could find. Additionally the Blacksmiths would often work with the carpenters in the creation of tools. Builders would use the tools and wooden objects created by the carpenters to construct houses, farms, and many other buildings. The third, and highest tier of the professions are the two roles concerning relations with other tribes and Island communities. The Warriors consist of the defence force of the village. There are often small quarrels between tribes that are in close proximity of each other, and sometimes military action will take place. Lastly, the Couriers deal with the inter-tribal affairs, in a non-violent way. These men are deemed to be the fittest and the most agile, as they must traverse across the islands and deliver messages and small items to other Tribes. These men usually carry small arms such as stone daggers and occasionally a bow, as in times of war, these men make great artists of stealth, and can turn the tide of a battle rather rapidly. Couriers are also deemed to be the collectors of medical herbs and flowers, often the ones located deep in the jungle, because no ordinary gatherer would be able to set foot into the jungles. But one does not simply become a courier without proving they are worthy. First and foremost, it must be in the blood, your father must be a courier or a warrior, and secondly, you must be able to prove you are able by going on a dangerous quest, which involves a journey to the heart of the island. Deep in the Jungles, the elegant toucan bird rests. A courier must venture out and pluck a feather from the bird and bring it home. This seems like a simple task, but the jungle is a dangerous place, and the tribesmen only know of a few animals that reside in the rainforest, many more may lurk in there, nobody really knows for sure. Due to the nature of the land they live in, the Boa’tians are adapted to certain conditions and have certain attributes and skills which may be useful in different scenarios. They are very good at making do with what they have, and can craft fine tools and weapons from simple sticks and stones. They also live by the coast, and so they know much about fishing and have a few different techniques from the usual fishing rod method. They may use harpoons to catch their prey, much like whaling but with smaller fish, and smaller spears. They also have trained themselves in the virtue of patience, and this has lead them to develop a method of bare-handed fishing. The Fisherman will patiently wait in a boat, leaning into the water as he waits for a school of fish to pass by. Sometimes bait may be used to attract fish. The fisherman then reaches into the water and grabs the fish, usually covering the gills and brings it onto the boat. This technique is used for smaller fish, but can be used for larger fish also. (If you are interested, the technique used to catch catfish bare handed is called Noodling) The Natives of Bao'Tia were used to the higher temperatures, but had made a couple of decisions with their attire to suit their needs. Generally speaking the natives wore flat, sandal-like shoes, that also resembled flip-flops. Many of them however chose to be barefooted, which to some, seemed easier. Men usually wear knee to shin length shorts, usually of a dark brown/tan colour, and the woman would wear pretty much the same. Thin t-shirts were created from woven hemp plants, however many men discarded this and wore nothing on their top half, in terms of shirts or jackets, or armour etc. Many natives picked up on the idea of necklaces, and men usually created these from various teeth of animals such as sharks, whereas woman would pick sweet smelling and bright flowers to wear. Natives also grew a liking to wristwear such as bracelets woven from wood fibres. This was common for all genders. Both genders also grew their hair fairly long, and many eventually had dreadlocks, yet some just had scruffy hair. this usually included facial hair, however many chose to cut their facial hair. a bandanna was always worn around the head, and this was used to symbolise the tier you belonged to. Green was used to symbolise the lower tier, as these were the tribesmen and woman who were closest to nature. White was used for the secondary tier, as this was the most common colour. For the third tier, the colour orange was selected for its rarity, as orange flowers for dye is scarce on the islands. Architecture The Villages that the Natives live in have no structure in terms of organisation - houses are built when they are needed, and where there is space. The houses were typically built very close to the water, and had large wooden supports, much like stilts to support them. this way, if the water levels rose the houses were elevated above the water, and they were already close to the sea, which is ideal for fishing. The houses themsleves are made of thin sheets of wood, and require a carpenter to create the materials, and are assembled and built by the builders of the village. Farms are built further inland, typically on the edges of nearby rivers and other sources of water. Military The Warriors of The independent tribes are known locally as the Koa, and they are not particularly heavily armed, they are equipt with tomahawks crafted from the scarce iron located in small deposits around the island. They do not see much action during their lifetimes, for the tribes are largely peaceful, especially after the split and migration that occurred 150 years previously. This split is known as the Ahupua‘a and was the biggest war the islands had ever seen. One tribe, known as the Hehena tribe were known for their outlandish traditions and culture. The Hehena Tribe was overly-aggressive, savage and they were expanding their tribes much too fast, and soon came to arrive upon another island. This lead the other three tribes, which were in an informal alliance, to rally their troops and march towards the Hehena. The three tribes knew not of the extent of the savage nature of the Hehena, all they knew is they were too aggressive to be allowed to expand any more. The Three invading Tribes, collectively known as the pu`alikoa, Surrounded the ever-growing Hehena, whom by now had assembled a wall of sorts. The war was short and was a failure for the invading armies, but ultimately everyone suffered in some form. Tribes could no longer support the larger communities they had developed into, and so many split into smaller tribes upon their own island when they returned home, if they did. The Hehena Suffered fairly heavily, despite repelling the pu`alikoa, the large village suffered as they were effectively outnumbered three to one. However due to the brutal and bloodthirsty soldiers they had been able to fight effectively against multiple enemies. The savage tribes retreated further north of their island, and became an isolated community. The other three islands eventually became stable once more, and were able to re-establish connections between villages on the same island, and tribes that resided upon other islands. This lead to the formation of couriers, known as the `aihue. Beliefs The Boa'tians Split into their individual tribes, most, if not all of which were lead by the returning warriors form the Ahupua‘a. The Warriors (Koa) Were believed to be sacred and holy in some form, as they believed this is the only way they could have ever survived such a war. The Tribe leaders where then known as the Ali‘i. There is no challenge system in place, and the son/daughter of the Ali‘i will take leadership when the time is right. a higher being is of common belief, simply known as Akua. The prayer to said God consists of three phrases. Kai `aina Lani, which means Sea, Land, Sky. The Crime and punishment system is rather simplistic. Morals are not taught, but Boa'tians are expected to have a sense of morality, and most do, as there is usually no reason to turn to crime within the small communities. However if one acts for personal gain and commits crimes such as theft, they will be exiled from the tribe and forced to live on their own. If they commit a more serious offence such as murder, the criminal would be hunted down and brought to justice with brute force. The criminal would not receive any form of trial, and they will be almost instantly punished according to their crime. Category:Nation